Faris, in retrieving the wizard Edvarius, is roped into helping resolve Ironfell’s problems before he can travel to West Haven.
I purchased a row boat for my mule, Aldar, to pull up river, along with more rations. I searched for tassleroot while Aldar pulled the boat. I found one bushel to sell later, and paused to eat some rations. I continued upriver until a flaming arrow flew at me – a gang of gnolls was attacking! One actually managed to hit me, but I took out his friends easily. A couple fled, so I anchored the boat and snuck after them. Thwap, thwap, whoosh, thwap! Three of the four dead by my arrows before they could get off a shot. The fourth one got lucky though.
After they fell, I noticed more gnolls emerging from their tents, all women, children, and elderly. As I turned away to return to my boat, one of the pups ran over and handed me a tribal mask embedded with gold and gems.
I continued north, up the river, and reached a fork. The left looked turbulent, the right calm. Ideally, I would have gone right, but the boulders to the left reminded me that Edvarius mentioned the giants had been throwing rocks in the river. It was hard steering through the turbulence, I narrowly avoided hitting rocks several times. Just when I thought I was clear, a boulder tumbled down the mountain, thrusting the boat out of the water, then slamming back down. Ouch!
Another boulder crashed down the mountain and rolled past me. I glanced up the hill and saw a laughing giant lifting another boulder. I clambered out of my boat, quaffed an elixir to boost my physical skills, and snuck through the trees towards it. I snuck in fairly close, then tried to calm him down by talking gently. He looked puzzled for a moment and briefly stopped hurling rocks. The peace was momentary, he then ripped a dead tree from the ground and swung it at me. Thank goodness for my animal friends, with their help I evaded every swing and eventually killed the giant.
I rummaged through the giant’s camp, finding some food and a few coins. I assumed the coins were stolen from less fortunate travelers. Then I noticed the giant had a belt, worn on his wrist. I put it on and immediately felt stronger. I returned to my boat and headed south, a far easier trip than coming up river. I harvested more tassleroot en route, and paused briefly to eat.